Leslie Benzies blames saboteurs for being responsible for MindsEye's failure
, by Thibaut
Among the most resounding failures of the year was MindsEye, the first game from Build A Rocket Boy. Leslie Benzies, the studio's CEO, took the game's very negative reception badly. In fact, he even accused saboteurs of being behind it all.
This week, the BBC reported on the contents of a meeting that took place last July within the company. During the meeting, Benzies highlighted the "unjustified" negativity surrounding MindsEye, before accusing "internal and external forces" of hindering the launch. He went so far as to talk about "saboteurs" whom he wanted to eliminate before a wave of layoffs.
"I find it disgusting that anyone could sit amongst us, behave like this and continue to work here."
Beyond this outburst, several developers reported their boss's problematic behavior. They lamented the lack of clear direction in the design of MindsEye and endless crunch time as the launch approached. The teams had to prioritize the “Leslie tickets” that Benzies reported based on what he thought was important. As a result, other issues highlighted by developers were never fixed.
"It didn't matter what else you were doing, what else was being worked on, the Leslie ticket had to be taken care of."
Publicly, Leslie Benzies and management say they take "full responsibility for the launch of MindsEye", adding that the community deserved a better experience.
Source: bbc.com